Candidates may donate an unlimited amount of monetary and in-kind contributions to their own campaigns (except during the 21 days before the general election). However, in order for a candidate's contribution to be eligible for repayment by the campaign, it must be recorded in a written loan agreement, designated for either the primary or general election and be properly reported as a loan on a Schedule L and on a C-3 report (or Part 1 of Schedule B to the C-4, if in-kind).
(See RCW 42.17A.445 and WAC 390-16-226)
State law limits the amount a candidate may be repaid for personal loans made to his or her campaign to $7,500 for the primary and $7,500 for the general election. A candidate who loans his or her campaign committee an aggregate amount of $7,500 or less per election may be repaid in full by the committee up to the amount loaned.
However, if a candidate loans his or her campaign over $7,500 for the primary or over $7,500 for the general, he or she may only be repaid a maximum of $7,500 per election. Once an aggregate of $7,500 per election has been repaid to the candidate for one or more loans made to the committee, no additional loan repayments may be made to the candidate for that election.
If a candidate makes documented out-of-pocket campaign expenditures and expects repayments (that is, he or she is not making an in-kind contribution), the campaign committee must repay the candidate within 21 days of the date the expenditure is made or the candidate will have made a loan to his or her committee. Repayment of this loan, when combined with the repayment of other loans, may not exceed an aggregate of $7,500 per election. Undocumented out-of-pocket campaign expenditures by the candidate are in-kind contributions and are not eligible for repayment.
If a candidate uses a personal credit card to make a campaign purchase, the campaign must pay the candidate the full amount of the purchase within 21 days of the purchase or a loan or in-kind contribution to the campaign will have occurred.